I wish.

It’s invariably Butternut this and Butternut that or for the very adventurous a minestrone and sometimes leek and potatoe.  But on the whole the restaurants on the Garden Route stick to a well thumbed menu and they have learnt from bitter experience that it is sheer folly to venture out and explore.
There are however a few exceptions to the rule and when I am in George I will inevitably end up at the House of Flavour in Meade St where they will serve me coffee, a chunky beef and vegetable soup with crisp slightly toasted ciabatta for breakfast.

I stop regularly. You can also get Rock Shandies or something thats cold which will quench the thirst while you wait for them to prepare your steak

Joy at Thai kitchen tells me that she has had her kitchen ( beautiful and simple and clean) fitted out just like the one she had in Thailand when she opened her first business. So it’s authentic. This is real Thai food. Not the kind you get in a shopping mall with a triple tiered garage. Real honest interesting characters who ended up in Knysna because the place is that rarest of things, a cosmopolitan village. A small place with very sophisticated tastes.

Thai Kitchen is a bright, cheerful place where Joy and her staff prepare cuisine right before your eyes. There is something dramatic in this. The conversation before dinner. The magic being worked just a little further into this cheerful little haven from the bustle of Knysna’s main street.

Situated in what has become the acknowledged home of the better restaurants in Knysna, Memorial square, Thai Kitchen is open for lunch and dinner most days except sunday, Joy has a regular crowd of Thai aficionados, mainly locals, but if you’re looking for a special evening with a large group, call and book to make sure.

Fill your senses with Phad Thai, Green Thai Curry, Tom Yung Kung or the very popular Song sa Haai, a combination of chicken and prawns that should probably be served with a warning label (It’s addictive). You’ll be back for more of that one I guarantee it.

Thai kitchen has been running for two years and Joy is definitely developing something of a following amongst those discerning diners who know the difference between overpriced uninteresting food and something truly amazing from the developed palate of Thailand.

Joy is a practising Buddhist and I’m pretty sure this helps her to cope with the very difficult job of finding ingredients for all this. Something of a miracle that this bright Thai entrepreneur pulls off here. It may seem like magic but to be sure; skill, experience and know how are what makes the behind the scenes difference at this fabulous little taste of Thailand right here in ‘Good Old Knysna’ on memorial square.